Top Cities Likely to Have a White Christmas This Holiday Season

Looking forward to a white Christmas? You may just have one, and there may be a way to predict whether or not you'll have one in the future. A climatologist has crunched the numbers from the past 50 years of weather observations and has found the best places for snow on the ground come Christmas. In addition, she's found the best places that will receive a dry drive to New Year's Eve parties.

The statistics are based on the previous 50 years of historical data. This allowed the climatologist to provide the best estimate without looking at current conditions and forecast models. Since the U.S. already had snow leading up to Christmas, some places are guaranteed to have a white Christmas. In addition, the U.S. has been an active pool for storms, so even if probabilities were low for some cities, it's possible that there was snowfall this year.

"If you're dreaming of a white Christmas, Pinkham Notch, NH, has a 93 percent probability of fulfilling your dreams," said Jessica Spaccio, the climatologist behind the new study, in a news release. "Another high probability is Caribou, Maine, at 90 percent. If you'd rather not deal with the snow, stick closer to the coast: Lewes, Del. (5 percent), Salisbury, MD (7 percent), Philadelphia PA (8 percent), Washington, D.C. (8 percent), Atlantic City, NJ (9 percent), Dover, Del. (9 percent).

While the east coast seems to have variability when it comes to snowfall, there's one place that's absolutely guaranteed to have a white Christmas. Spaccio found that Fairbanks, Alaska has a 100 percent probability of snow on the ground once the holidays roll around. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are a few cities that have 0 percent probability. These include Augusta, Ga, Las Vegas and Columbia, SC.

"If you're planning to hit the streets in New York City on New Year's Eve, there's a 50 percent probability of precipitation," said Spaccio in a news release. "Not as bad as Buffalo, NY with a 66 percent probability. If you're looking to stay dry, weather speaking only, Las Vegas is the place to be, with only 2 percent probability for precipitation."

The findings reveal not only what cities are white this year, though. The study could be used to predict which cities will have a white Christmas in the future. Even if you missed the snowfall this year, it's possible that next year will bring the chance of a snowy day.

Want to know the probability of your city receiving snow? Check out the data here.